The Human Condition Today.

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What kind of shape or condition is humanity in? Most people have a romanticized version of the human condition. We want to see the sanitized version of humanity. There are people who live in abject poverty and slavery today. Years ago, I went to visit my wife’s relatives in Mexico. They were middle class Mexicans, but not all were so blessed. They lived in the mountains around Monterey. As we traveled up the mountain, there were cardboard houses on the hill side. Yes, cardboard houses that people lived in. and Mexico isn’t a 3rd world country. Then there are the homeless, people on the streets of the world. There are estimated about 150 million people homeless. That is half of the population of the United States. The statistics are overwhelming. What can I do with such overwhelming odds?

This is where the real lack of power shows up. It is not for us give up. It is for us to find a solution. The world population is 8 billion people. What if one person takes care of one person. God knows that you have the resources to care for one extra person. There is a story about this very subject in the bible. It is the story of Lazarus the beggar. He was sitting just outside the walls of a rich man’s house. The rich man was just concerned with his money and goods. Lazarus would have been happy with scraps from the rich man’s table. Lazarus and the rich man die on the same day. The rich man wakes up in hell and Lazarus in the arms of Abraham. The rich man calls out to Abraham, send Lazarus with water to quench my thirst. Abraham says I can’t. You had everything in your life, now Lazarus has everything he needs. And now you will suffer for your greed.

We are made out of the dust of the earth and the breath of God. God gave us our mind, will and intellect. That is who we are. Then we are born and live on this earth to learn. We learn different things accordingly to our parents, locations and other people. Man has a capacity for doing good and evil. We are born knowing how to lie, steal and cheat. Then we are taught to be kind and gentle to our fellow-man. Although we were given the power of gods, we were not given to power to control ourselves. Look around and see the inhumanity to man that we are capable of. God shows us how we can walk on this earth and live like him. It takes courage to live righteously. It takes nothing to live in sin, but it costs us our own souls. The same problems we have today are the same problems people had in the beginning. The message from the beginning has never changed. We are sinners and are separated from God. If we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, God will forgives us and accept us into the kingdom of God.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Violence in Our world.

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Violence is the destructive nature of man. It comes in all forms. Bullying is a form of violence. But I am old school about the solution. A bully is a coward and a swift blow to the nose would resolve a lot of things. I don’t advocate violence as a solution. I advocate that you stand up and facing it head on with courage. There are more insidious forms of violence. It is how this blog got started. I was watching a commercial about abused animals. It said how people should be involved to stop it. Then I thought how people should be involved in stopping the killing of innocent children. I was talking to a person who worked in the US Justice Department about violence in this country. I said that after the US Supreme Court decision about abortion, that the murder and violence rate has climbed exponentially in the country. He kept saying no, but the statistics bear it out. If life isn’t protected, it is open season on man. I know that it is a touchy subject. Man wants what he wants. And everything is right in his own eyes. What will happen in the end? What will man do? Will man destroy everything that is good? Hitler tried to conquer the world. He marched his army in every country he could. He was successful in killing 50 million people, but Germany suffered more than any country. God didn’t leave one brick on top of the other in Germany. Over 80 million Germans were killed in WWII. Their country was destroyed. God says if you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. God also says you have a free will and need to choose what you will do about your life. Just a thought about living free from violence.

Crain Blanchard.
http://www.joseph1637.com

Joseph1637.com

A Thought.

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The bible says as a man believes so is he. To believe something you have to think about it first. I have just about stopped listening to TV commercials. The whole point is to change our minds and purchase their products. Most of the time we don’t even need it. Every person only has a few ways of collecting information. The first way is sight. The eyes are a gateway to ourselves. Everyone needs to guard what they see because it will change the way we think. When I was young, I use to watch horror movies. The ones I watched were grisly, but not demonic. Today it is no holds barred. Do you know why audio and visual are most effective? It incorporates the second way of imputing info, hearing. Did you know that the makers of the movie “The Exorcist” recorded the sound of killing pigs to make the soundtrack more gripping? What you hear is just as important as what you see. The third way is smell. When your mother fixes your favorite food, you know it. When you smell a dead cat, you know it. Our smell is directly related to our memories. The fourth way is touching. Do you remember the first time you touched a hot pot? And lastly tasting, do you remember the first time you ate candy? All of our senses created memories of information that we make judgments about everything. So as we think, we make judgments. As we make judgments we believe. As we believe so are we.

Crain Blanchard.
www.joseph1637.com

Joseph1637.com

Music for Life.

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Growing up I have always had a natural talent. From a young age, I loved music because I had an ear for music. Then I discovered that I could sing on key. I was in the choir most of elementary and high school. Until my voice changed, I sang soprano. I could even hit high C on the musical scale. When my voice changed, I became a baritone and some times I could sing tenor. My father loved classical music, which I still love to listen to today.

During college, I messed around more than studied and didn’t do so well. I studied communications (radio and television) in college. I served in the military after college. Then I got married. I knew it was time to get serious. I secured a job as a music director for a local Christian radio station. There I listened to all the music. Some music was good and some not so good. What I was listening for was the anointing of God. Most albums had 12 songs on it. Yes, this was before CDs. The music companies wanted me to play their choice of music. As I searched for suitable music for the radio station, I would find one or two songs that had the anointing. The criteria for the station was 1) you had to be able to hear the lyrics, 2) it had to lift up the name of Jesus. The station went from a Southern Gospel to Adult Contemporary Gospel music. Most of the time the music I chose wasn’t what the music company wanted. Sometimes I had go-rounds with their representatives. Our goals where different. What I was trying to accomplish was music that lifted people up to trust and believe God. Hope is a powerful thing. God is the author of music. The angels play music all the time. If they aren’t singing, they are playing music. It has a force all its own. As with all of the things of God, there are two sides, faith and doubt. It is the same sword. It can be used both ways. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. With all the music the angels have, there is one song they can’t sing. It is the song of the redeemed. Only we can sing that song to the Lord and all the angels stop and listen to it.

Music is a powerful instrument. If used in the right way, it can uplift people and soothe the savage beast. There are many different forms of music that can inspire us to greatness. And we know that there is music that can destroy us also. That is why it is so important for us to guard our ears when listening to music.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Life and Death.

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I have heard that from the moment you are born, we begin to die. I can understand that somewhat. Our skin continually is shedding the outer layer everyday. Our body rejects anything that doesn’t belong inside of us. But time and age always catches up to us no matter what we do. We look at people from around the world that have lived over a 100 years. But they are an anomaly. With medicines and better living, we have increased the average age lived to from 32 in the 1800s to 73 in the 2000s. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to die.

Life and death are two subjects that people seemed to be obsessed with. If it isn’t trying to live longer, it’s glorifying death so that we seem more important. The bible has different views on life and death. It says in Proverbs, life and death are in the power of the tongue. It also says that if you don’t bridle your tongue, you can’t control your life. It’s interesting that our tongue has a direct influence upon our life or death. And if you don’t think that is true, just look at people that you know that don’t control their tongues. In Ephesians, it says to obey you parents that you may live long on this earth. That is a direct correlation to the length of our lives.

It’s funny, interesting, how God seems to be interested in how long we live on the earth. And He delineates what will cut off our lives prematurely. And all of this decision making comes right back to what we do and say. So, we are in charge of our lives and have to make the right decisions to, 1, stay alive and 2, live a long life. Life and death are not only in the tongue, but also in what we do with our lives.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

As Time goes By.

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There is an old song from a movie called As Time goes By. It is a sad love song that makes me feel lonely. The song talks about 2 people who were in love, but circumstances separated them, in particular WWII. They let time slip away and didn’t appreciate the time that they had together. I see people losing their grip on time through similar situations. It’s not a world war that made them lose time, it was their own fault. We are given a certain amount of time in our life. We can’t get any more time. If you look at your life you will see where you lost time in your life. And that time is gone forever. What is that old expression, you can’t go home again.

We want to believe that we are the models of efficiency. But if we look close at our lives, time is relentless. It doesn’t stop for anyone. Time marches on, until the world runs out of time. So it is up to us to use our time correctly. Only you can determine how to use your time. People can steal your time, if you let them. I guess the most important thing in your life is your time.

My life has gone by in a blink of an eye. I still don’t understand how it has gone by so fast. I have tried to use my time as succinctly as possible. I know that I have wasted some of my time, but I have tried to correct it in the long run. So, what am I saying. It all comes down to what you do with your life. In your hand is everything that you will be or can be. And it is up to you how you spend your time on earth in this life. Use your time as efficiently as possible to have the best result for you.

There are a few song that talk about time and how to use it. The best one that I have heard is an old song by Jim Croce. It is called, Time in a Bottle. I have placed the link below to listen to the song. Enjoy.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Fitting In.

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Where do you fit in? Everyone wants to fit in somewhere. Sometimes it is with your family, but mostly it is just trying to fit in with your friends. The young people tend to gravitate to other young people. Us old guys tend to talk to older people and children. I have seen people take to the ninth degree. It is rather a sad commentary on people. Everybody is unique. Many people have quirks that are unique to themselves. I wouldn’t call people odd, but sometimes that is the case. Whether odd, unique or quirky, God made us all. We are to a point, different from each other. I like blues and purples. My wife likes reds and purples. God made us to fit together. We are only separated by what we think. Sometimes then it isn’t really real. God said do unto other as you would have other to do to you. God also said He is no respecter of persons. He judges all peoples by their hearts. This is the true judgement of people. You see everybody’s heart looks the same. There really is no difference.

Crain Blanchard. 

http://www.joseph1637.com

Joseph1637.com

What Remains the Same?

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If you look at the news of the day, you will see our President, (USA), undoing as much as possible the previous administrations policies. For good or bad, this President believes himself to be right. Just as the last President did. It all depends on what you believe is right. I have a riddle for you to solve. I wrote this riddle 12 years ago. I’ll give the answer at the end of the blog.

What remains the same and is constantly changing? and why?

My life has changed in this past 12 years. 2 of my brothers have died. I have 4 grandchildren. 6 major hurricanes and a state wide flood have occurred in Louisiana. My house was under a 1 ½ feet of water for a week. Not everything was destroyed in the flood. Which I am very grateful. We found a brand new house and bought it. I have maintain relatively good health. My poor wife has had multiple surgeries for broken bones. She tries hard to move fast as she can and ends up falling and breaking something. C’est Malheureux. When Covid came, everything shut down. So many people lost their jobs. It was a time of great uncertainty. It could have been a real disaster in this country, if the government has not done something. But there has been a lingering distrust of government since the end of Covid. We just had a record snow fall of 10 inches in South Louisiana. South Louisiana is what you would call semi Tropical. This snowfall has happened twice in my life time. It seems like nothing remains the same.

Now let me give you the riddle.

What remains the same and is constantly changing? and Why?

The answer is Man. The constant or the same is change. Ecclesiastes 1:9 “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Snow in South Louisiana.

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South Louisiana is known for hot summers and mild winters. We have blistering heat and high humidity. Our water table or sea level is about 35 feet below my house. We have rivers running through almost everywhere. The only state that has bigger misquitoes is Alaska. We have alligators, bobcats, muskrats, beavers, nutra rats and crawfish. And all of those animals have recipes for them. I’m joking, except for the alligators and crawfish. South Louisiana is called Bayou Country. The French Acadians came to Louisiana when there was nothing but bayous and misquitoes. They settled here and populated the state. I’m French and Irish. My french family settled in North Louisiana. Then moved to Lafayette.

All my life the weather patterns have changed drastically. If we had a cold winter, we had hurricanes in the summer. If it was a mild winter, then we had a blistering heat in the summer. I can remember days that were 100 degrees with 100% humidity and it wasn’t raining. Louisiana is a green state, beautiful oak and magnolia trees everywhere. So to my surprise, when an arctic storm to come through from Texas to Georgia.

As I am writing this, it is 12 degrees Fahrenheit with about 10 inches of snow on the ground. The last time that I saw cold and snow like this was when I was 8 years old in 1957. Everything is white and beautiful. The snow will stay for another 2 days. It is suppose to warm up to 70 degrees this weekend. Which means all the snow will be gone. Life changes every day. Nothing remains the same. This is the true test of life. If you can survive the change. This is a challenge that everyone faces. And not everyone survives.

I struggled when this change until I couldn’t go on. I was about 28 years old. Some dear friends lead me to the truth. I couldn’t survive the changes in my life without one person changing my life for the better. Of course, I am talking about Jesus and His life changing ways. I gave in and decided His way was better than mine. I have never regretted that decision. Whatever the weather does outside, my life is set on achieving one goal. That goal is to make it to heaven and to live with God, my Father and Jesus, my older Brother, forever.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

What do Other People see?

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Perception is an important tool in our arsenal. It is not just what we see, but it is what we understand. It is easy not to see what the truth is and make a mistake. Perception is tricking if you don’t know what you are looking at. It is like the old saying, don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Whether it is a person, place or thing. We have to get to know who or what is there, personally. Sometimes it is hard to do that and people just give up on trying. And in that moment they make a judgment call, whether it is right or wrong. The strangest thing is that man believes that his perception of himself is right. Sometimes it is true, but I think it is just bravado.

You know what is funny(interesting) is that other people can see us for who we are. They can see the real us faster than we can. There is a real reason for that. What they see in us is a reflection of themselves, whether good or bad. Everyone says that they are an individual. They are unique in this world. It is true that we are individuals, but we are more similar to each other than we want to acknowledge. Cultural differences make us unique, not different. And just because of the pigment of our skin, it does not mean that we are not the same. We are born, we live and we die. There is no difference. We are not going to get along with everybody, but we can at least try to understand who they are. So that we can have a better perception of who we are.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com